Dr. Walker Yost

​Olympia Chiropractor

"Dr. Yost is compassionate, personable, and a very skilled medical practitioner.
​I’ve recommended him to many friends. Definitely one of the most pleasant medical experiences ever." 
​- Megan

Your Tumwater Family Chiropractor.

432 Simmons Street SW Olympia WA 98501  | ph:  360.269.3448

make an Appointment

Education
​Stuyvesant
The Evergreen State College
The University of Western States Chiropractic College

Dr. Walker has a strong core belief that when the body is properly nourished and exercised, it will maintain its inherent ability to restore health and ward off disease.

Dr. Walker is fully vaccinated, with booster for COVID-19, and encourages everyone who is able to do the same, as it is an act of service to others who are not able to receive a vaccine.

Chiropractic care supports an individuals body awareness, to move through space properly, while remaining pain free.
Listening to his patients Dr. Walker, through his thoughtful awareness, allows patients to realign with their inherit sense of well-being to allow the healing process to begin.
In his free time Dr. Walker enjoys the game of chess, reading, playing with his family and sharing delicious food with friends.

make an Appointment

"Having worked with many chiropractors who do not have the skill required for performing such refined manipulations, I deeply appreciate Dr. Yost. If you are new to chiropractic care, or even if you are already working with another chiropractor, consider adding Dr. Yost to your health care team."
​-Lee, LMT

What is Chiropractic care?
​Chiropractic is a health care profession that focuses on disorders of the musculoskeletal system and the nervous system, and the effects of these disorders on general health. Doctors of chiropractic—often referred to as DCs, chiropractors or chiropractic physicians—practice a drug-free, hands-on approach to health care that includes patient examination, diagnosis and treatment. In addition to their expertise in spinal manipulation/adjustment, doctors of chiropractic have broad diagnostic skills and are also trained to recommend therapeutic and rehabilitative exercises, as well as to provide nutritional, dietary and lifestyle counseling.

What conditions do Chiropractors treat?
Doctors of chiropractic care for patients of all ages, with a variety of health conditions. DCs are known for their expertise in caring for patients with back pain, neck pain and headaches with their highly-skilled manipulations, or chiropractic adjustments. They also care for patients with a wide range of injuries and disorders of the musculoskeletal system, involving the muscles, ligaments and joints.

These painful conditions often involve or impact the nervous system, which can cause referred pain and dysfunction distant to the region of injury. The benefits of chiropractic care extend to general health issues, as well, since our body structure affects our overall function. 

Chiropractors also counsel patients on diet, nutrition, exercise, healthy habits, and occupational and lifestyle modification.

How is a Chiropractic Adjustment Performed? 
Chiropractic adjustment or manipulation is a manual procedure that utilizes the highly-refined skills developed during the chiropractor’s intensive years of chiropractic education.

The chiropractic physician typically uses his or her hands—or an instrument— to manipulate the joints 
of the body, particularly the spine, in order to restore or enhance joint function. This often helps resolve joint inflammation and reduces the patient’s pain. Chiropractic manipulation is a highly controlled procedure that rarely causes discomfort. The chiropractor adapts the procedure to meet the specific needs of each patient.
Patients often note positive changes in their symptoms immediately following treatment. 

Research Supporting Chiropractic 
A growing list of research studies and reviews demonstrate that the services provided by chiropractic physicians are both safe and effective. The evidence strongly supports the natural, whole- body and cost-effective approach of chiropractic care for a variety of conditions. Read excerpts from recent studies.

Chiropractic Education 
Doctors of chiropractic—who are licensed to practice in all 50 states, and in many nations around the world—undergo a rigorous education in the healing sciences, similar to that of medical doctors. Because of the hands-on nature of chiropractic, and the intricate adjusting techniques, a significant portion of time is spent in clinical training. The course of study is approved by an accrediting agency which is fully recognized by the U.S.Department of Education.

This has been the case for more than 25 years. Before they are allowed to practice, doctors of chiropractic also must pass national board examinations and become state-licensed. This extensive education prepares doctors of chiropractic to diagnose health care problems, treat the problems when they are within their scope of practice and refer patients to other health care practitioners when appropriate. Learn more about chiropractic education.

Why is There a Popping Sound When a Joint is Adjusted? 
Adjustment (or manipulation) of a joint may result in the release of a gas bubble between the joints, which makes a popping sound. The same thing occurs when you “crack” your knuckles. The noise is caused by the change of pressure within the joint, which results in gas bubbles being released. There is usually minimal, if any, discomfort involved. 

Is Chiropractic Treatment Appropriate for Children? 
Yes, children can benefit from chiropractic care. Children are very physically active and experience many types of falls and blows from activities of daily living as well as from participating in sports. Injuries such as these may cause many symptoms including back and neck pain, stiffness, soreness or discomfort. Chiropractic care is always adapted to the individual patient. It is a highly skilled treatment, and, in the case of children, very gentle. 
 
Are the Services Provided by Doctors of Chiropractic Safe? 
Chiropractic is widely recognized as one of the safest drug-free, non-invasive therapies available for the treatment of neuromusculoskeletal complaints. Although chiropractic has an excellent safety record, no health treatment is completely free of potential adverse effects. The risks associated with chiropractic, however, are very small. Many patients feel immediate relief following chiropractic treatment, but some may experience mild soreness or aching, just as they do after some forms of exercise. Current literature shows that minor discomfort or soreness following spinal manipulation typically fades within 24 hours. Learn more about chiropractic safety. 

Is Chiropractic Treatment Ongoing? 
The hands-on nature of the chiropractic treatment is essentially what requires patients to visit the chiropractor a number of times. To be treated by a chiropractor, a patient needs to be in his or her office. In contrast, a course of treatment from medical doctors often involves a pre-established plan that is conducted at home (i.e. taking a course of antibiotics once a day for a couple of weeks). A chiropractor may provide acute, chronic, and/or preventive care thus making a certain number of visits sometimes necessary. Your doctor of chiropractic should tell you upfront the extent of treatment recommended and how long you can expect it to last. 

Information provided by the American Chiropractic Association. 
Learn more about chiropractic.  

What Research Shows About Chiropractic
A growing list of research studies and reviews demonstrate that the services provided by chiropractors are clinically effective, safe and cost effective.  Following are excerpts and summaries from a few of those studies. The evidence supports the natural, whole-body, drug-free approach of chiropractic for a variety of conditions. To find more research supporting chiropractic services, visit the World Federation of Chiropractic's Reading List and the Clinical Compass for both guidelines and research.

Featured Research:
New research published in Spine journal analyzed the prevalence, patterns and predictors of chiropractic utilization in the U.S. general population. The researchers found that "Back pain and neck pain were the most prevalent health problems for chiropractic consultations and the majority of users reported chiropractic helping a great deal with their health problem and improving overall health or well-being." Learn more.
 

For Acute and Chronic Pain
“Given that most patients with acute or subacute low back pain improve over time regardless of treatment, clinicians and patients should select nonpharmacologic treatment with superficial heat (moderate-quality evidence), massage, acupuncture, or spinal manipulation (low-quality evidence). If pharmacologic treatment is desired, clinicians and patients should select nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or skeletal muscle relaxants (moderate-quality evidence).”
-American College of Physicians (2017)

"For patients with chronic low back pain, clinicians and patients should initially select nonpharmacologic treatment with exercise, multidisciplinary rehabilitation, acupuncture, mindfulness-based stress reduction (moderate-quality evidence), tai chi, yoga, motor control exercise, progressive relaxation, electromyography biofeedback, low-level laser therapy, operant therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, or spinal manipulation (low-quality evidence)."
-American College of Physicians (2017)

“Many treatments are available for low back pain. Often exercises and physical therapy can help. Some people benefit from chiropractic therapy or acupuncture.”
-Goodman et al. (2013), Journal of the American Medical Association  

“[Chiropractic Manipulative Therapy] in conjunction with [standard medical care] offers a significant advantage for decreasing pain and improving physical functioning when compared with only standard care, for men and women between 18 and 35 years of age with acute low back pain."
-Goertz et al. (2013), Spine

In a Randomized controlled trial, 183 patients with neck pain were randomly allocated to manual therapy (spinal mobilization), physiotherapy (mainly exercise) or general practitioner care (counseling, education and drugs) in a 52-week study. The clinical outcomes measures showed that manual therapy resulted in faster recovery than physiotherapy and general practitioner care. Moreover, total costs of the manual therapy-treated patients were about one-third of the costs of physiotherapy or general practitioner care.
-Korthals-de Bos et al (2003), British Medical Journal

“Patients with chronic low-back pain treated by chiropractors showed greater improvement and satisfaction at one month than patients treated by family physicians. Satisfaction scores were higher for chiropractic patients. A higher proportion of chiropractic patients (56 percent vs. 13 percent) reported that their low-back pain was better or much better, whereas nearly one-third of medical patients reported their low-back pain was worse or much worse.”  
-Nyiendo et al (2000), Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics
  
In Comparison to Other Treatments 
The results of a clinical trial showed that chiropractic care combined with usual medical care for low back pain provides greater pain relief and a greater reduction in disability than medical care alone. The study, which featured 750 active-duty members of the military, is one of the largest comparative effectiveness trials between usual medical care and chiropractic care ever conducted.
-Goertz et al. (2018) JAMA Open Network

"Manual-thrust manipulation provides greater short-term reductions in self-reported disability and pain compared with usual medical care. 94% of the manual-thrust manipulation group achieved greater than 30% reduction in pain compared with 69% of usual medical care."
-Schneider et al (2015), Spine 

"Reduced odds of surgery were observed for...those whose first provider was a chiropractor. 42.7% of workers [with back injuries] who first saw a surgeon had surgery, in contrast to only 1.5% of those who saw a chiropractor."
-Keeney et al (2012), Spine 

“Acute and chronic chiropractic patients experienced better outcomes in pain, functional disability, and patient satisfaction; clinically important differences in pain and disability improvement were found for chronic patients.”
-Haas et al (2005), Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics

“In our randomized, controlled trial, we compared the effectiveness of manual therapy, physical therapy, and continued care by a general practitioner in patients with nonspecific neck pain. The success rate at seven weeks was twice as high for the manual therapy group (68.3 percent) as for the continued care group (general practitioner). Manual therapy scored better than physical therapy on all outcome measures. Patients receiving manual therapy had fewer absences from work than patients receiving physical therapy or continued care, and manual therapy and physical therapy each resulted in statistically significant less analgesic use than continued care.”
-Hoving et al (2002), Annals of Internal Medicine

For Headaches
“Cervical spine manipulation was associated with significant improvement in headache outcomes in trials involving patients with neck pain and/or neck dysfunction and headache.”
-McCrory, Penzlen, Hasselblad, Gray (2001), Duke Evidence Report

“The results of this study show that spinal manipulative therapy is an effective treatment for tension headaches. . . Four weeks after cessation of treatment . . . the patients who received spinal manipulative therapy experienced a sustained therapeutic benefit in all major outcomes in contrast to the patients that received amitriptyline therapy, who reverted to baseline values.” 
-Boline et al. (1995), Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics

For Neck Pain
In a study funded by NIH’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine to test the effectiveness of different approaches for treating mechanical neck pain, 272 participants were divided into three groups that received either spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) from a doctor of chiropractic (DC), pain medication (over-the-counter pain relievers, narcotics and muscle relaxants) or exercise recommendations. After 12 weeks, about 57 percent of those who met with DCs and 48 percent who exercised reported at least a 75 percent reduction in pain, compared to 33 percent of the people in the medication group. After one year, approximately 53 percent of the drug-free groups continued to report at least a 75 percent reduction in pain; compared to just 38 percent pain reduction among those who took medication.
-Bronfort et al. (2012), Annals of Internal Medicine

Cost Effectiveness
Findings from a study utilizing data from the North Carolina State Health Plan collected between 2000-2009 show that care by a doctor of chiropractic (DC) alone or DC care in conjunction with care by a medical doctor (MD)  incurred “appreciably fewer charges” for uncomplicated lower back pain than MD care with or without care by a physical therapist. 
-Hurwitz et al. (2016), Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 

Older Medicare patients with chronic low back pain and other medical problems who received spinal manipulation from a chiropractic physician had lower costs of care and shorter episodes of back pain than patients in other treatment groups. Patients who received a combination of chiropractic and medical care had the next lowest Medicare costs, and patients who received medical care only incurred the highest costs.
-Weeks et al (2016), Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics

Low back pain care initiated with a doctor of chiropractic (DC) saves 20 to 40 percent on health care costs when compared with care initiated through a medical doctor (MD), according to a study that analyzed data from 85,000 Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) beneficiaries in Tennessee over a two-year span. The study population had open access to MDs and DCs through self-referral, and there were no limits applied to the number of MD/DC visits allowed and no differences in co-pays. Researchers estimated that allowing DC-initiated episodes of care would have led to an annual cost savings of $2.3 million for BCBS of Tennessee. They also concluded that insurance companies that restrict access to chiropractic care for low back pain treatment may inadvertently pay more for care than they would if they removed such restrictions.
-Liliedahl et al (2010), Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics

“Chiropractic care appeared relatively cost-effective for the treatment of chronic low-back pain. Chiropractic and medical care performed comparably for acute patients. Practice-based clinical outcomes were consistent with systematic reviews of spinal manipulative efficacy: manipulation-based therapy is at least as good as and, in some cases, better than other therapeusis.”
-Haas et al (2005), Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics

Patient Satisfaction
“Chiropractic patients were found to be more satisfied with their back care providers after four weeks of treatment than were medical patients. Results from observational studies suggested that back pain patients are more satisfied with chiropractic care than with medical care. Additionally, studies conclude that patients are more satisfied with chiropractic care than they were with physical therapy after six weeks.”
-Hertzman-Miller et al (2002), American Journal of Public Health

Widespread Use of Chiropractic
“Chiropractic is the largest, most regulated, and best recognized of the complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) professions. CAM patient surveys show that chiropractors are used more often than any other alternative provider group and patient satisfaction with chiropractic care is very high. There is steadily increasing patient use of chiropractic in the United States, which has tripled in the past two decades.”
-Meeker, Haldeman (2002), Annals of Internal Medicine